


Cerulean Sea

by Skarita



Category: Homestuck
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2011-12-08
Updated: 2013-01-31
Packaged: 2017-10-27 01:52:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,934
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/290370
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skarita/pseuds/Skarita
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>New experiences, old memories, love, loss, and a sea of the purest blue.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The 25th of October

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not a writer. Not an experienced one, anyway. I normally tell my stories through pictures, not words, but I feel that the latter would do this a little more justice than a long comic I would likely never finish. I'll give you images where I can; the rest of the imagining I'll leave up to you. This is my first real Rosemary fiction, so I do hope it is enjoyable for those who read it.

The first time Rose takes Kanaya to the beach is the first time Kanaya has ever seen the ocean.

It was different, on Alternia. Living in the middle of a sweltering desert fighting zombies every day made it difficult for these kinds of what Rose called “Summertime Excursions”. Quite simply, Kanaya had lived in a landlocked area of residence, the sea was much too far away to visit, and therefore had long since remained merely an exotic fantasy to be visited in early-morning readings or rare, non-Prospitian dreams. It was safe to say that though fantasy normally would prove the upper-class in terms of vision and sensation; this was far beyond anything that the desert-dwelling troll had previously imagined.

“It is simply amazing. Are all human oceans as wide and blue as this?” she asked her counterpart, who for her turn smiled and gazed across the stormy waves.

“To be perfectly honest, I wish I had chosen a better day for our visit. A shame the weather didn’t transpose itself upon the Atlantic as pleasantly as it did further inland. It should be a much brighter shade of Cerulean, and would be if it weren’t for these poor conditions.” She paused, “Much too rough to consider swimming. I shall have to bring you again sometime, when the weather is more pleasant and the waves aren’t threatening to dash our skulls across the rocks.”

“Strange, I had never suspected that your earth oceans could harbor such hostile feelings towards wayward adventurers” Kanaya remarked dryly, staring yearningly across the waves. Rose caught herself watching the way her eyes skimmed across the horizon, where the sea was hardly distinguishable from the sky. It didn’t seem all that pretty to Rose like this; only watching it in Kanaya’s eyes coud she really appreciate what kind of wonder it held.

The troll girl sneezed. “Too much ocean for you for one day, Sahara Sam” Rose quipped, as Kanaya shook her head.

“I think I am catching some sort of cold weather induced virus.”

“Let’s get back to the car. It looks like it’s about to rain anyway.”

 

***

 

When they arrive home, to Rose’s house, Kanaya immediately begins alchemizing fabrics. She had spent the entire long journey home irritant trying to sketch her ideas in the small pocket notebook she always carried around with her, but the car was hardly a suitable place for fashion. Rose was left thankful to take a small break from Kanaya after suffering a large amount of dissatisfied grunting, and she was mildly sure Kanaya would be much happier to be left in peace with her design work for the moment anyway. It gave her time to open her laptop and carry it up to the study, secluded and somewhat confident she wasn’t going to be disturbed.

A special date was coming up in the next few weeks. Namely, their anniversary, fifth from the time of their meeting and third from the day a somewhat tender and unusually unconfident Rose had asked Kanaya out on a date. The 25th of October.

Rose had planned a romantic evening to celebrate, but seeing the ocean in Kanaya’s eyes had made her change her mind. She was really going to outdo herself on this one, she quietly decided, as she confirmed the transaction for the airline tickets.

 

***

On the eve of the 25th, Rose delicately folded two tickets and a small packet of photographs into a basket, also containing a bottle of Pinot Noir (For Kanaya, not for her) and an assortment of cheeses and grapes. Wearing one of the dresses Kanaya made for her, one that cut just above her knees and showed off the most of her collar and neck, she attempted to calm her nerves as she trode downstairs to where her beloved girlfriend was taking an afternoon snooze on the couch. She paused; debating whether to wake the sleeping troll. Kanaya always seemed so peaceful in her dreams. She never tossed or turned; the mess in the bed sheets always extended outwards in a radius away from Rose in the morning like the aftermath of a bombing raid on a small valley town.

It didn’t matter; Kanaya twitched delicately and opened a single, jade-ringed eye. Rose had to remind her throat not to seize up; she hadn’t even asked her to come out with her yet. In an attempt to open the cavity Rose cleared her throat and spoke.

“Ms. Maryam…?”

Kanaya saw through her instantaneously. She sat up against the arm of the sofa, gently rubbing some sleep from her eye with one hand, and then uttered “You only call me by that address when you are trying to obtain something from me.” She smiled warmly, but quirked an eyebrow to show Rose she wasn’t going to leave the room without parting with an explanation first. “What do you wish, Rose?”

Rose fidgeted with her fingers for a second behind her back, before holding the basket aloft in front of her so Kanaya could see it. “Actually, I was hoping to ask you out on a date.”

Kanaya slowly blinked. “Are we not already dating?”

“There’s no need to complicate the matter, you know very well I mean to take you out and share a very romantic evening with you” Rose replied, only a little hastily. There was a pinkish flush threatening to break across her cheeks at any moment; it was sheer willpower and determination that kept her outer shell as frosty as a paved winter road.

Kanaya smiled, fangs edging only just so noticeably over her glossy lower lip. “Then of course, I would be enamored to accompany you.”

 

***

 

The afternoon, thankfully, goes exactly the way Rose’s mind had imagined it, although with fewer magical tricks of the light and breathless confessions leaning against each other until they were so close their noses almost touched. Kanaya discovered the tickets as Rose had asked her casually to pass a glass, and she had spent the rest of the afternoon pouring her memories out over old photographs to a woman who would stare at each like a treasure chest she was waiting to open, and Rose had given her the set of keys that unlocked every one.

“It seems so perfect, Rose- look at the colour of the sea…”

“Just wait, Kanaya. Two weeks, and I’ll introduce you to paradise.”

A warm, pleasant feeling settled in Rose’s chest at the light in Kanaya’s eyes. She made no effort to dislodge it whatsoever.


	2. Journeys

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I apologize in advance for the lack of illustrations! Life hasn't been lending itself all that well to drawing lately, so I've been writing a lot instead. I've been sitting on this chapter for a while, so I figure it's best to finally get it out here. Enjoy!

The next two weeks were mostly spent teaching Kanaya Maryam the art of packing. After many exasperated sighs and bemused smiles, Rose finally managed to convince Kanaya not to pack every one of the dresses in her very impressive arsenal. Curiously, the new universe in which they now resided, besides being exactly alike to the original earth and being populated by various odd juxtapositions between human and troll cultures, also had failed to accommodate the idea of sylladexes into its programming. The result was the rather old-fashioned solution of bundling everything into numerous suitcases and praying to God you wouldn’t find yourself halfway across the pacific in want of a toothbrush.

“Kanaya,” Rose delicately began, “I doubt that in the tropics you will find yourself in the need of a 7/8th’s coat.”

“One never knows when one will require the assistance of an appropriately-lengthened jacket to pull one’s outfit together” Kanaya smoothly replied, being sure to pack extra coat-hangers.

Of course, in the two years they had earned to explore the remade planet Alterna-Earth, Kanaya had made sure to immerse herself in humankind’s illustrious history of fashion in general. From Alaia to Zampatti, the teenage troll had devoured biographies and textile magazines, tried cuts and explored materials, and fallen in love with couture to the degree that Rose had jokingly admitted to being the second-in-line for Kanaya’s affections more than once (Which was quite the scandal in its own right.) There was an entire wall-shelf of books dedicated to the art of clothes making and runway etiquette in the lounge of the Lalonde-Maryam household, right next to the only slightly more modest section on landscape design.

Rose was forced to simply sigh through her nose and watch Kanaya packing another coat into the carefully-stacked suitcases they had prepared for their holiday. She made a sly mental note to leave one or two of the more extravagant ones out when they bundled into the taxi for the airport.

She also had to put a blatant stop to Kanaya’s attempts to sneak a pair of earmuffs into her bag ten minutes later on.

 

The night before they were due to leave the States, Rose had looked over their shared room. It was much tidier than usual- a lot more devoid of the haphazard messes both women were prone to leaving artfully scattered across floor and chair (Rose left them anwhere; Kanaya gathered them into specific places later). Setting her headband delicately atop a stack of books at her bedside, she turned over to run her hand down Kanaya’s arm, smiling faintly as Kanaya turned to return her affections. An unspoken excitement passed between them, in the way Kanaya didn’t look at all tired, and Rose was propped up on one arm to gaze at her. Each of them had changed with age, of course. Kanaya, always tall, had grown to a model-worthy, perfectly-shaped six foot three, while Rose, cursed with slightly less favourable genes, had remained a somewhat less than satisfactory five-two. And of course, the new universe had accommodated for Kanaya’s unfortunate Rainbowdrinker aspect by gradually erasing it from her coding.

 In short, only six months since they had taken up residence in their new home, the wound that for three years had been blight on the Virgo’s perfect image had all but closed up entirely. Now there was only a small dot of white against her skin’s natural grey, which Rose would occasionally find herself gazing at absent-mindedly when she changed. Kanaya didn’t glow in the dark anymore- although if Rose concentrated particularly hard, she would still be able to see a faint after-image in the darkness of their room at night. As for the scars Rose bore- the only ones that yet remained were purely emotional. She and Kanaya hadn’t spoken awfully much on that, aside from that one night Kanaya had returned home to find Rose curled up in a small corner of the kitchen surrounded by bottles and smelling vaguely of gin and darkness. Rose hadn’t touched a drop of alcohol since.

Kanaya gently gathered Rose up in her arms, laying delicate kisses across her cheeks. Rose was content to simply lie against her quietly beating chest, tangling her slim, writer’s fingers through Kanaya’s smooth, thick hair.

 

They travelled business-class. There was no way Miss Lalonde was going to cramp Kanaya into economy-class seating, it simply wasn’t the kind of decision a classy lady like herself would make.  The trip would be 23 hours long,  and darn it all, they would enjoy being able to lounge about and make full use of their extra space to do extraordinarily important things, like stretch while yawning, and spread laptops and sketchbooks arrantly across flight-tables until the seatbelt sign flickered on. Business class it was, for one classy lady and her equally classy girlfriend.

Kanaya, having never flown on an airplane before (“What on Alterna-Earth decided to make these design decisions it can’t possibly have been sentient tell me when we’ve crashed”) was at least curious to see how it all worked. Of course, after Sburb, the novelty of flying itself had rather worn off on the travelers. Oh, we’re ten-thousand-feet-up over the Atlantic ocean, ho hum. Still, it was nice not to have to witness the blood gushing from someone’s eyes while you sped through space. Kanaya hadn’t spoken much of what had occurred between the trolls themselves in those dying hours of Sburb, only that they were 1) Not the kind of thing a person discussed in polite company, and 2) Extremely depressing to the point where if Rose tried to press about it Kanaya would simply stand up and leave the room entirely. Rose simply avoided wondering about it to prevent herself from becoming emotionally distressed, or worse, blindingly curious. Of course, having to sit on an airplane for 23 hours, with only Kanaya and her laptop for company, her mind wandered naturally into dangerous places, as it had always done before.

Rose thought back to the first time she had ever laid eyes on Kanaya Maryam. Of course, she had known her for a while prior to the actual physical meeting, and given the situation the meeting itself could probably have been somewhat more magical. But, as soon as she’d arrived, she hadn’t been able to shake the feeling someone had been paying close attention to her, and her eyes had rather quickly, sneakily, discovered the source of the strange white light against the green- a fashionable troll who could only be her online friend.  She now turned her eyes to the same girl sitting beside her, who five years later was radiant in an entirely different way.

Kanaya was humming quietly, ear-buds in (It sounded like “Cameo Lover”), scribbling away with wild abandon in a solid-bound sketchbook. She would occasionally nibble the end of her pencil, her teeth still sharp enough to cut slivers of wood from the end. Rose observed this through her peripheral vision, her own hands cradling a classic Du Maurier volume that she really would be reading if there weren’t such a fascinating individual beside her.  Not that Rose’s daily thoughts were always so focused on her girlfriend- oh, heavens no, they were both much too busy for that kind of fairytale carry-on. But this was _their_ holiday and _their_ time together and she wouldn’t complain if perhaps they, the two of them, might spend the next two weeks enjoying each other’s company as much as they could, rather than worrying over which colour fabric quite suits a particular mood, and whether or not this manuscript was quite worthy of being sent to the publisher just yet.

“May I see?” Rose asks her, gently placing two fingers on Kanaya’s elbow to get her attention. The girl startled, and quickly flipped the book closed before Rose could peek.

 “There is a perfectly good book you are neglecting, Ms. Wandering Eyes, and you should be getting back to it before you cause it irrevocable emotional harm.” She then proceeded to stash the sketchbook into her purse and began staring out the window, which baffled Rose only slightly.

Kanaya had never suffered from esteem issues, so either she was drawing something which was a surprise, or otherwise, simply something she didn’t feel comfortable with Rose seeing. Either way, Rose didn’t question it. She turned back to the volume in her hands and quietly thumbed to the next page, staring at Kanaya out the corner of her eye. The troll girl rearranged her long, thin arms slightly, so as to be more in a more comfortable position for staring the ocean down. She’d barely seen her more transfixed.

There was obviously something in the ocean that Kanaya saw and Rose missed. Rose wasn’t quite sure what this was, and the notion that there was a gap in her knowledge frustrated her slightly.

“Kanaya?”

“Yes, Rose?”

“I’m curious. Either you’re attempting to hypnotize the sea, or I’m missing out on some sort of rapture. Which is it? I’ve not seen you stare at a hydrangea with such ferocity.”

Rose became  suddenly, glaringly aware of the way Kanaya shifted so that she leaned away from the window, as if she were hiding something. “It’s just… An extraordinary hue” Kanaya responded, leaning towards her to rest lightly against Rose’s shoulder. This answer, of course, was immensely dissatisfying. Rose would have opened her mouth to complain if Kanaya hadn’t promptly closed her eyes with the intention of going to sleep. Rose just sighed quietly through her nose and resigned herself to the comfort of being the troll-girl’s pillow for the time being.

 

They arrived in the airport during the late afternoon. Kanaya, roused from her slumber by a quiet word from Rose, jerked upright, very nearly upsetting the laptop Rose was trying to store away. Rather than annoyance, the girl only let out a quiet chuckle, as though Kanaya had entirely missed some important cue and fallen inelegantly onto the stage during an aside.

“Oh, Rose, I’m sorry I hadn’t meant to disrupt your-“

“It’s okay Kanaya. You know very well even without this we would still have packed far more computers than we know what to do with. Old habits die hard, and all that.” She paused for a little bit of dramatic effect, “By the way, we’ve landed.”

The jade-blood’s eyes lead her body to stare out the darkening window. Unfortunately from her vantage point, the only thing to see on the horizon was a twisted row of coconut palms.

Rose chuckled, and rebelliously unclipped her seatbelt a full five seconds before the sign-lights went out.

 

 

Port Vila was somewhat less than interesting during the night, and from the interior of a taxi nothing really looked that special. Rose still smiled at the way Kanaya couldn’t tear herself away from the window for long enough to spare her a glance, even when spouting wisecracks. She couldn’t blame her. When she was little, back before she had begun to so fervently resent her mother’s honeying touch, before the passive-aggression, the game and the heartbreak, Rose had been a little girl pressing her face close to the window and staring outside into the scenery that was so foreign and new. It was interesting, seeing Kanaya like this, she feared if they were to stop for traffic Kanaya would run out like a bibliophile faced with a bookshop. Of course, Kanaya was far more sophisticated than that, but the idea was adorable. She didn’t need to worry, though-it wasn’t exactly peak tourist season, and they barely stopped at all on the way to their resort-hotel.

“’Le Laguna’?”

“It’s French for ‘The Lagoon’”

Kanaya nodded at this, and smiled at Rose as the cab gently rolled to a stop. Rose smiled back, getting out to collect their luggage- or, what she could carry of it. With this many suitcases, they were going to require a few extra hands.

 

“This certainly seems spacious enough” Kanaya exclaimed, twirling gracefully from the door to the sofa in one movement, setting four heavily-laden suitcases down on the way. Her alien strength had always astonished Rose, but for the moment the human girl was too preoccupied trying to tug two suitcases up the welcome ramp to marvel at it overmuch. She parked them both near the kitchen counter of the villa- so as to leave room for the two other trolls following them to set down the rest of the bags comfortably.

“Yes, well, I know you like to stretch out” she puffed, adding a quiet “Thank you, that will be all” to the two large gentletrolls, not waiting for an answer before closing the door. Their abode was a four-room villa- large enough for them both to enjoy each other’s company without tripping over their feet, at least.  She was sorely tempted to lie straight down across Kanaya and go to sleep, and allow the jet-lag to catch up with her, but for the sake of civility she abstained from this notion and settled in an armchair across from her girlfriend, fanning herself with a hand. “It’s certainly as warm as I remember.”

Kanaya smirked. “You appear to be a little flushed, my darling.”

“Yes, well my Anglo-Saxon blood certainly never agreed to this idea. Forgive me if I expire within the first few days, I can assure you I’ll find the strength to resurrect myself eventually. And don’t you dare entertain the notion that I missed that heinous pun. Your pun license is hereby revoked for the next forty-eight hours.”

Kanaya let out a low, contented chuckle. “You couldn’t prevent me from constructing these word-jokes even if you were to make an attempt.” She passed Rose on the way to the bathroom, stopping to take her hand and kiss it, leaving a ghostly-green lipstick smear.

Everything was going exactly according to plan. Rose lounged back, readjusting her headband. She was going to take Kanaya out to dinner- the small village had its own chef, if she remembered correctly, and a dinner show would be the perfect way to introduce Kanaya to island culture. “Put on something nice, dear” she called to the half-closed doorway, and heard Kanaya let out a short, amused snort. Telling Kanaya Maryam to put on something nice was about as redundant as telling a flower to open its petals in the morning-it was going to happen whether or not you said anything at all. After a few minutes of acclimatization, Rose made her way towards the abandoned pile of suitcases and began moving them to their bedroom.

 

Fire-lit torches showed them the way up to the eating house, a large, open building from which a small amount of idle chatter emanated, framed by a muffled pattern of drumbeats from a band of trolls and humans upon a low-set stage. The mix of cultures didn’t faze anyone in the area beside Rose and Kanaya, of course- everyone else was quite used to the fact. In the new world there was no blood-hierarchy, no segregation- just like the teachings of the Signless Sufferer, as Rose had been informed. No-one remembered a world before the race wars, nor an Earth before Alternian culture. The finer details of the arrangement were often a point of conversation between the remaining Sburb survivors.

Those of them who were left, that was. As far as they could tell, none of the trolls who had died in the veil had reanimated on the new world. It was painful to remember for many of them. Sollux and Aradia were still out there somewhere- of that they were sure, for they continued to get the occasional pester-posts in Rainbow Rumpus Partytown (“we’re having a ball guys! Theres so much space here, and you wouldn’t believe how many artifacts me and sollux have uncovered!”). But whenever the dead were spoken of, people went quiet. There was one name that often came up, and Rose internally winced at the memory of John’s face crumpling, the drooping shoulders, then the silent tears, Jade and Karkat holding him as he stood there and felt the pain of it all, and she remembered Kanaya grasping her hand harder than usual, as if, if she were to let go, she would fall apart with him.

The same hand shook her out of her stupor. A gentle squeeze at her side from Kanaya, who was clad in a short, airy, Chanel-worthy black dress. She looked stunning, of course, and had taken the care to match herself to Rose who wore a somewhat more comfortable garb, designed for her by Kanaya- elegant, but not too great a leap from Rose’s comfortable short skirts and jeans.

It really shouldn’t have surprised her when heads turned to stare as they sat down. Rose had to quietly remind herself -to thank the wonders of the program- that it wasn’t because they were a “Lesbian” couple. The word didn’t even exist in this world’s vocabulary, as there wasn’t exactly a need for it socially. No, Rose thought, it was simply because Kanaya Maryam was an absolutely _stunning_ troll. Rose coughed politely, encouraging everyone to turn their heads back to their food while she smirked and elbowed a suddenly bashful Kanaya in the ribs.

“I’m not surprised you turn heads, Kanaya. Especially coming in here wearing _that_ dress.”

“I’m not entirely sure I was the only individual they were staring at, actually.” She murmured, with a satisfied smile.

 Rose just raised a shapely eyebrow in disbelief, and waved down a waiter as the drum-beat grew louder and dancers marched rhythmically onto the stage.


	3. Swimming lessons.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In lieu of beautiful weather and a beckoning blue ocean, the girls decide to go for mid-afternoon swimming lessons.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still no illustrations, alas. My tablet is currently lying in a shallow grave while I flutter around organizing a replacement. Also, does anyone know how to make pesterlogs work on this site?

The morning came on far too quickly, in Rose’s opinion. Of course, there was nothing wrong with waking up to Kanaya’s arms around her shoulders, to quiet murmurings and smiles, but the problem was she wasn’t entirely sure she had even slept, and every animalistic instinct inside her told her to roll over and grasp at her precious REM.

“Rose.”

“Mngrph.”

“I suppose I’ll be preparing the coffee this fine morning” Kanaya chuckled, rolling out of bed. Rose blinked herself awake properly, just in time to be blinded by the light Kanaya allowed to burst through the curtains.

“Must you really insist on burning out my retinas?” she mumbled, pulling herself vertical. “I’m not entirely finished using them yet.”

Kanaya was at her side in an instant, checking her eyes. Sometimes she still wasn’t entirely clear on the sarcasm front. “There doesn’t seem to be any damage, you’ll be happy to know.” Or otherwise, she simply took it too far. Rose took the chance proximity to lunge in for a brief kiss, leaving Kanaya briefly stunned before she giggled- God, how often does one hear Kanaya Maryam _giggle_ \- and wrapped a sarong around her hips, making her way to the kitchen area. Rose smiled after her, feeling very content. They were thousands of miles across the ocean, in tropical paradise, with no urgent morning phone-calls from John, nor unexpected visits to worry about from Terezi and Dave (“ **1T’S 4N 3M3RG3NCY ROS3 W3’R3 OUT OF K3TCHUP AND D4V3 1NS1ST3D ON 1NVOK1NG TH3 1RON13S FOR A FR13NDLY N31GHBORLY V1S1T** ” “ **we would have called our actual neighbors but this opportunity doesnt present itself often watch out kan sheriffs coming through hide all your illegal substances and wipe the porn off your harddrive** ”). Not they she didn’t enjoy their company, but after three years of constant shenanigans, visits were allowed to be sparing.

Rose took her time getting out of bed, taking the opportunity to check the weather outside- it was sunny, perfectly clear, hot and humid. She made a mental note to make sure she put sunscreen in her bag, lest she came home the colour of a boiled turnip. At least Kanaya had packed enough hats for them both, and Rose was fairly sure she had never seen Kanaya get sunburnt before- perhaps it was her troll skin, or something else about her, but she always came out on top when it came to fighting with the sun. Another thought briefly occurred to her, as she strode into the kitchen contemplating a walk down to the beach later.

“Kanaya, did you ever learn how to swim?”

Kanaya paused in stirring milk into one of the cups- her cup, because she knew Rose always took it black- to muse for a second. “I had some… Very brief lessons with Mothergrub, once.”

“Very brief as in…?”

“As in, ‘Kanaya, This Is The Water. You May Only Go In Up To Here’” and Kanaya gestured to a level around her knees. “Only seadwellers learned how to swim on Alternia. And besides, I did live in a desert, as you are aware. The only liquid sustenance for miles was from a small pond of water fed from an underground spring in my lawn-ring.”

“Well, we’ll have to put swimming lessons on our ‘Things to Do’ list. But the first thing on the list is to visit the market, we will need some supplies, and besides“ Rose flashed Kanaya a sly glance “I want to see just how brave you are, Kanaya Maryam.”

Kanaya gave her a quizzical look.

Rose just wiggled her eyebrows, and sashayed into the bathroom.

 

\-----

 

The market was absolutely bustling with activity. There were stalls set up in every direction, mostly just plain wooden tables set with strange foods, smoked fish over here, coconut over there, fresh kava, and bananas tied together in bunches. Rose kept a gentle hold on Kanaya’s wrist, steering her around as the locals yelled out offers in French and broken English. Her head was whipping back and forth as she gathered in the smells and sounds of the marketplace, looking very interested in the whole event.

“Ah, over here” Rose said, pointing towards a stand selling coconut, where a seatroll with wild hair was scooping out the white flesh with a curved knife. Rose said something fluently in French, about trying before buying. The troll nodded with a wide grin, and scooped some of the substance out, offering it to them. Rose waited for Kanaya to try her piece, watching and savouring the moment as the troll girl bit slowly into it and chewed, a smile slowly spreading across her face.

“This is very nice, Rose. I think we should buy some to take with us.”

Rose smiled, turning away from another stall. “What about some of these?” she asked, pointing to a crab the size of a small tire being cut open by a native woman. Kanaya rolled her eyes.

“If you’re trying to concern me with your choice of sustenance packages, you are making a very monetarily negative occupation of it.” She said, flashing a toothy grin. “How about you try some of these?” she added, pointing to a bowl of wriggling, white palm grubs on the table to the right. Rose pursed her lips and placed a few vatu on the counter, getting in return a paper-plate of the squirming live spaghetti. She contemplated them for half a minute until Kanaya, sick of waiting, daintily picked one up between ringed forefinger and thumb, and popped it delicately into her mouth with a daring smirk. Rose squinted at her as the troll girl bit down and chewed, apparently savoring the taste.

“Remind me never to ask you about the wonders of bourgeoisie Alternian cuisine.”

“Why ever would you want to miss out on it?” Kanaya asked, helping herself to another worm.

Rose looked down at the plate again, and picked up a worm, face as straight as ever. She closed her eyes so as not to appear strained and popped it between her lips.

Kanaya politely turned to another stall as Rose attempted to swallow. Truth be told, the things were beastly, and Rose very nearly gagged on it as she bit in and the juices exploded over her palate in an unpleasant slush. Were trolls even in possession of functioning taste buds? Rose came to the conclusion that this plan of hers had backfired fantastically.

“Kanaya” said Rose, after setting the sensory-offensive grubs down and eyeing the suspicious coconut bra the troll was holding in her hands, “Please tell me you’re only planning on buying that for _Dave_.”

 

\-----

 

The weather was perfect. The air was humid and warm, not much to Rose’s preferences, certainly, but she had never seen Kanaya looking more alive. The troll walked like a dancer, her arms swaying by her sides, light on her toes, skirt swishing, a very contented grin on her face. Rose caught herself again becoming lost in her observations, the way Kanaya walked fast, and then slow, gazed across the ocean and afterwards did a small twirl to land her eyes on Rose. Her smile became closed as she slowed her step so Rose could walk beside her. Rose reached out to take her hand, with a shy smile. Kanaya squeezed it in return.

“Rose, this is wonderful” Kanaya purred, eying a boat bobbing on the water. “Thank you, for all this.”

“Think nothing of it” Rose replied, sounding surprisingly sincere. Her companion spiraled towards the edge of the walkway, squatting to lean over and gaze into the water below. “I need to teach you how to swim” she remarked, remembering the morning’s conversation, watching as the tiny shore fish darted about in the troll girl’s shadow. Kanaya stretched out to brush the surface of the water with a finger, watching them scatter away.

“I would like that. It seems like it would be a very worthwhile endeavor, and I would enjoy being able to explore more of these small aquatic creatures.”

“Well then,” Rose smiled, “You had better get your bathing suit on when we return home Kanaya, we shall make a start this afternoon.”

Kanaya grinned and swept Rose up in her arms.

 

\-----

 

Thankfully the weather had kept perfectly fine for the afternoon, and the sun was high and hot, and the water clear and warm. Rose had packed food and towels, Kanaya had brought sunscreen for Rose and a few books carefully cradled in a wicker basket, and the both of them wore swimsuits and sarongs for the afternoon activities.

Rose had explained to Kanaya that they were to catch a boat, only a small walk away, to a place called “Hideaway Island” which Kanaya could see clearly across the lagoon. It was small compared to Port Vila, and flat, with palms and white, sparkled sand. She looked to it now staring across the water, which was that deep, shimmering blue. The tide was at half mark.

She felt Rose take her hand and press something hard and smooth into it. “Look”, she said, “This was a whelk, at some stage. The cone naturally forms in a twisting pattern towards its peak.” It was indeed twisted to a spiral, ringed with colours of yellow and white. Kanaya screeched and startled when a bright red crustacean decided to peek out and tickle her palm, and dropped it to the sand. Rose tried very hard not to laugh. “Oh, a hermit crab. We’ve startled the poor thing” she added, as it waddled disorientedly away.

A few more minutes walking and they reached the foot of the jetty, a long wooden construct that stretched about twenty feet out to sea, with a palm-frond canopy covering its length. A few fishermen stood and cast long off the side and then reeled back fiercely. At the end a boat bobbed amicably, and Kanaya supposed that this would be the one they would catch. She eyed it with suspicion.

“It doesn’t particularly seem like it will be able to cross this lagoon. It’s so… _Small_.” So Kanaya hadn’t had very much experience with boats.

“It will be fine, Kanaya. The swells don’t get very rough here unless there’s a storm; it’s cut off from the main part of the pacific.”

“If you’re entirely certain, Rose.”

“Trust me, Kanaya.”

Kanaya tiptoed towards the jetty, staring down at her feet, making footprints in the sand. So like home, but not. Her bare toes brushed aside shells and fragments of stone and coral, which Kanaya understood were not naturally white but were bleached so by the salt content of the ocean. It was all so… _Alien_. At home, the sand was unchangingly fine, brilliant gold in the sun. She would never get used to this. Rose as a contrast looked so comfortable- and so calm. It was strange to see her like this- but it was so nice, as well.

On the meteor at first, Rose had always seemed calm, indisposed, and confident. Over time Kanaya had grown sensitive to the small hints Rose dropped unknowingly- the way she would get up and stir an extra teaspoon of sugar into her coffee, how she would go so quiet and solemn when she was feeling down, how she would tear up angry pages of her work into small pieces and let them rain from the edge of the meteor like snow when she didn’t think people were looking- that she was feeling the unspeakable immensity of the pressure she was under.

She reached out and took Rose’s hand, twining her fingers between the gaps where hers weren’t. The wooden jetty clunked under their steps in even rhythm. The boatman smiled at them and raised a hand in greeting, and Rose took a few coins from her pocket and paid him with them, and then she gently hopped down into the boat. Kanaya hesitated.

“It’s alright Kanaya. Just hold my hand, and step down. Gently.” Kanaya felt like she might put a foot through the hull if she didn’t step down _gently_. It was so terribly disorienting, feeling the ground move underneath her as she placed one foot after the other into the vessel and then promptly sat herself down on the nearest seat.

“We’ll have to work on your sea-legs, first mate Maryam.”

“I fear I don’t have any capable of being worked on Captain Lalonde, and furthermore I don’t feel particularly- what is that human expression? Ship-shape?” Rose took pity and sat beside her.

“Pun intended?”

“This is all very unsettling and new, and boats are strange and the water is… Not very comforting” Kanaya whined quietly, holding onto Rose’s arm perhaps a little tighter than could be called reasonable. Rose leaned over discreetly and planted a kiss on her cheek. It made her feel a little better. But it also, for some reason, made her feel a little worse.

Kanaya quietly prayed under her breath for the ship, asking politely if it would refrain from sinking with them on it. When the motor roared its reply Rose had to request that Kanaya didn’t hold onto her arm quite so tightly for fear it would break, and then there would be no swimming lessons to be had.

“Tempting.”

“ _Kanaya_.”

 

\-----

 

It was barely ten minutes journey to get to Hideaway island but it seemed to Kanaya as though half a century had passed. When she stepped out onto the sand, her legs wobbled in even motion with the sea, and Rose had to steady her, holding baskets in her free hand.

“Better now? No urges to dirty your lips with sand, I hope.”

“That would ruin my makeup, and I spent so long carefully applying the waterproofing” Kanaya had the sense to reply. “Can’t we simply catch an aeroplane back from here?”

“I fear the lack of runway might leave us slightly wrecked. Crusoe would laugh in his fictional throes, and we’d be left to drag ourselves to the shore until you decide that traversing the waters in a boat would be preferable to spending our middling ages fighting off cannibals and teaching the island inhabitants the wonders of human gods.”

“Not the most far-fetched concept I have ever had presented aurally to me” Kanaya grumbled, “But, alright. I promise that I will make my peace with the boats by the evening.”

She forced herself upright and proceeded to take a basket from Rose before any protestation could be made. The island itself was quaint, but quiet and blissfully solitary. A small restaurant could be seen nestled in the forest of coconut palms, from its ledges strung glass buoys of all colours glinting evanescently in the sunlight. Rose took her hand and led her across the sand towards a palm that jutted from the land nearly horizontally, and then grew back upward into a magnificent star of leaves through which the light flickered in gradual waves. All of it made Kanaya want to immediately lie down and soak in the sunlight like an overlarge purrbeast. Instead she set out the towels, and when she was done she sat, feeling her back warmed by the light and by Rose’s wandering eyes.  

“Are you enjoying yourself?” she asked, smirking at her over her shoulder.

Rose didn’t balk. “I’m having a wonderful time, and if you could only _see_ this _view_.”

Kanaya crabbed her way over to Rose and leant in to steal a kiss, her fingers trailing gracefully down Rose’s back before pulling her in close and-

Rose pulled away daringly, a peculiar smile on her black-green lips. “Uh-uh Maryam. Swimming lessons come first.”

“Oh.”  Seeming genuinely disappointed, Kanaya began untying the red sarong from her hips, folding it carefully into a square and leaving it on her towel. For her part Rose managed not to be a surprise by leaving her own lavender version in a silken heap in the sand, and, Kanaya watching, she lightly padded towards the sea. Kanaya dawdled after, edging tentatively toward the glimmering waves.

She had nearly caught up to Rose when the human took several steps in, so that she was up to her knees and Kanaya could see the sand puffing in clouds beneath Rose’s lily-white feet. Kanaya bit her lip and followed, and when the water, pleasantly cool, washed over her ankles she shivered and stopped.

“You’ve been in water before, haven’t you?”

“Well of course, but…”

Rose waded out deeper. “It won’t bite.” Kanaya didn’t feel quite as sure. Her mind was torn between moments, and it made her feel sick.

And then a misplaced step sent her tumbling face-first into the water, spluttering and flailing limbs everywhere. When she recovered from the initial surprise and pushed herself up she could hear Rose laughing. She shot her a sodden look.

“ _Rose_.”

“Alright, I’m sorry.” The girl moved closer and put her arms gently around Kanaya’s waist. “Better?”

“I’m not so certain that I’m ready for ‘swimming lessons.’”

“You’ll be alright. Look, you’re already almost waist-deep. And there’s no swell.” She was indeed, thigh-deep already. Kanaya looked down, her skin grey-blue and feet clouding the sand. It would have made a rather pretty textile pattern.

Kanaya closed her eyes. “In the Game,” she inhaled, “it was somewhat disconcerting to discover that the medium to which I had been assigned was almost entirely flooded. It was as if it were some kind of ludicrous jest, that a troll living the majority of her juvenile years in the middle of a parched zombie-ridden wasteland would have her gardens destroyed by an unexpected deluge.”

“The Game was a bitch like that, I’m to understand.” Rose’s hands had wandered around to Kanaya’s bare stomach, subconsciously tracing a familiar ring around her belly, and when Kanaya breathed out again she could feel it cave.

“It may have caused a little bit of total confusion” the jadeblood agreed. “I had to stoke the forge before my planet was of any use, and even for those purposes I had to do utterly nothing whilst waiting for Karkat to barge in and help” she swirled the water at her sides through elegant fingers, “I was completely useless until then.”

“Shh.” Rose said quietly, trailing her hands down Kanaya’s arms to grasp at errant hands, “you did a very important job.”

Kanaya clasped at Rose’s fingers. “Maybe.” She smiled to herself, looking across the lagoon. Her eyes were lost in the salt-wave glimmers.

“Lie back.”

“What?” She snapped out of her reverie, realizing that Rose was drawing away.

“Lean back. In the water. I’ll hold you up, don’t worry.”

“Oh curses. I thought I’d managed to get out of swimming lessons.”

Rose laughed. “Nope. Hard luck, Maryam.”

“Oh very well then” she replied, sounding a little less apprehensive than she had before. She sank delicately deeper, and laid her head into Rose’s cradling hands, arms out for balance. The water was like silk as it coursed across her collarbones.

“Try to keep your chest up. It helps with buoyancy.”

“I had thought that swimming had more to do with being below the water than on top of it.”

“That’s all very well for people who have gills, but we hopeless land dwellers occasionally have to make compromises for the sake of remaining alive.”

“Oh. Right.” Kanaya said, as though it hadn’t occurred to her, and leans back further. She gulped in air, and tried not to struggle to remain afloat. Rose slid an arm beneath her back reassuringly, gently prompting Kanaya- belly up, Maryam- no, not how you’re thinking.

With her ears submerged beneath the water Kanaya Maryam could hear the hum of the ocean and Rose’s voice above it, and it brought her a little peace.

 

\-----

 

> **tentacleTherapist** began pestering **gardenGnostic**
> 
> **TT: Jade.**
> 
> **TT: Are you there?**
> 
> **TT: Sorry about the time.**
> 
> **GG: rose!!!**
> 
> **GG: I hadn’t expected to hear from you so soon!**
> 
> **GG: hows the holiday going? I hope you and Kanaya are having fun :)**
> 
> **TT: Well, not to say that we aren’t, but I suspect that there might be something wrong.**
> 
> **TT: Kanaya has seemed rather… Absent, lately.**
> 
> **TT: I was wondering if you knew anything about it. I know she talks to you.**
> 
> **GG: not as often as you think!!**
> 
> **GG: but yeah, im afraid she hasn’t said anything to me :(**
> 
> **GG: she remains full of alien mysteries.**
> 
> **TT: Curses.  Well, thank you anyway.**
> 
> **GG: no problem!**
> 
> **GG: have a nice holiday, you scandalous rascals ;P**
> 
> **TT: Thanks, you too.**
> 
> **tentacleTherapist** ceased pestering **gardenGnostic**

 

Rose closed the laptop gently and lever it onto the coffee table infront of her. The tea Kanaya made for her half an hour ago had gone cold and she couldn’t really bring herself to touch it, so she wandered into the kitchen to put the kettle on to boil again and then made her way out to the deck, where Kanaya was sitting at the edge, face in hands, staring longingly out into the horizon.

“Kanaya?”

She startled. “Oh, Rose. Hey. Are you finished?”

“Yes, quite. Would you like another cup of tea?”

She nodded quietly and gave Rose a chance smile. Since getting home she had been rather quiet, and it worried Rose slightly. She sat behind her and traced a pattern upon the Jadeblood’s spine in cold shivers where her skin lay bare above her open-backed shirt. Kanaya hummed appreciatively at the touch and when Rose lent down to kiss the point where her shoulders and neck met she let out a small, happy ‘hm’ at the back of her throat.

“Did you want something?”

“Not at all. Why, did you suspect I had ulterior motives?”

“You usually tend toward that path, so yes, I can affirm that suspicion.”

“Well Ms. Maryam, I can assure you that for this evening I just want to share your time.” Rose glanced over Kanaya’s shoulder to where her sketchbook lay open. It appeared she had been designing clothing for some troll client. But as soon as she noticed Rose staring, Kanaya closed the book and put it to the side. Before she had time to inquire as to her curious secrecy, Kanaya had pulled her into a kiss, which travelled in breaths and whispers to Rose’s collar.

“Hungry much, Nosferatroll?”

“I don’t exactly miss the taste of blood, no matter how fine an elixir human sample ever proved to be. “ Kanaya simply kissed Rose’s neck, leaving the faintest green smudge. “But if you wanted, for old times’ sake, me to take a nibble I could certainly oblige our morbid fantasies again.”

“We can leave it for tonight. We’re having calamari instead.”

“Oh. So we’re indulging another fantasy in the place of desperate rainbowdrinker satire?”

Rose smiled and tried not to think of anything but the food. It was a futile effort. “Damn it Maryam, you’ll spoil my appetite.”

“Or increase it exponentially.”

“For the children’s sake, let’s pretend not.” Rose pecked Kanaya’s cheek and whispered in her ear, “Or at least, let us indulge indoors for modesty’s sake instead.”

Kanaya smiled against Rose’s side and trailed her fingers across her thigh. “So, calamari is it? I would have thought that you were getting a little tired of creatures of the tentacle variety, after everything we’ve had to deal with in the past.”

Rose laughed. “You _would_ think that, but no. _Never_.” She took Kanaya’s hand and helped her to her feet. The troll took one last look toward the ocean, and then back into Rose’s eyes. Their lips met as they stumbled blindly inside.


End file.
